Eliot Circular

Reed Names New Dean of the Faculty

Photo by Leah Nash

By Kevin Myers

We salute Professor Nigel Nicholson [classics 1995–], who has been named dean of the faculty and will begin his post as Reed’s chief academic officer on July 1.

“Nigel is an outstanding teacher, scholar, and educator,” said President John R. Kroger. “The Reed community looks forward to his leadership.”

Nicholson will replace Professor Patrick McDougal [chemistry 1990–], who has served as acting dean since Professor Ellen Stauder [English 1983–] stepped down in 2011 for health concerns.

“I am honored to serve as dean of Reed’s outstanding faculty and excited about the possibilities of the next few years,” said Nicholson.

Nicholson is Walter Mintz Professor of Classics and Humanities and has had extensive leadership experience at Reed and in professional organizations. He is the author of Aristocracy and Athletics in Archaic and Classical Greece, as well as a contributor to many academic journals. He is well respected by his peers at Reed and within his discipline, having served on the Education Committee for the American Philological Association, the national association for classicists, and as president and treasurer of the Classical Association of the Pacific Northwest.

Nicholson was named Oregon Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 2004.

In addition to his scholarship, Nicholson has been actively involved in several educational outreach programs in the community, including the Reed Latin Forum for Oregon and Washington high school students and the continuing education program for adults managed in partnership with the Oregon Council for the Humanities, Humanity in Perspective.

He earned his BA from Oxford University, with congratulatory first-class honors, and his MA and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.